This invention relates to a flower sleeve adapted for enclosing individual flower bunches, and more particularly, to such a flower sleeve combining the novel features of being both snag resistant during flower bunch installation therein, yet still having the vital venting for the flower bunch after said installation. Due to a novel shape and positioning of a flower sleeve nonperforated area or areas, the flower bunch may be inserted downwardly into the sleeve in the usual manner with a very minimal danger of possible snagging and as the larger size flower portion of a flower bunch enters and is ultimately installed in the sleeve, likewise particularly shaped and positioned perforated groups of the sleeve are forced to automatically expand and thereby provide efficient venting for the installed flower bunch. Furthermore, again in the preferred form, the flower sleeve is very well adapted for efficient suspension of the sleeve prior to and during flower bunch installation providing an overall highly efficient operation for presenting the flower bunch in an aesthetically pleasing marketable form, yet in a positively protected marketable form.
Various forms of wraps and sleeves have heretofore been provided for protecting flower bunches during the marketing thereof. For instance, mere sheets of plain paper or lighter tissue have been used with the flower bunch being rolled therein for transverse covering. However, in order to retain maximum freshness during marketing, flower bunches must be kept moist and the presence of moisture required the paper or tissue to be of at least a partial waterproof nature. In either case, however, it was difficult to maintain the paper sheet covering in place over the flower bunch and the provision of the obviously only minimum venting has made this form of flower bunch covering lacking in desirability.
The next progression of development brought forth flower sleeves and this was particularly true with the advent of the more modern plastic films. Straight tubular sleeves were used having a minimum diameter sufficiently large for receiving and transversely enclosing the larger flower portion of the flower bunches with the lower part of the sleeve gathered inwardly around the downwardly projecting flower stems, all of which created a somewhat bulky package due to the wide varience between the straight sleeves and the contoured bunches. Despite this bulkiness, however, the sleeves were far easier to retain in place over the flower bunches than the prior simple rolled sheet coverings and by use of the various plastic films, the sleeves were unaffected by water sprays used to maintain the flower bunches in a freshened state.
Although this advancement relieves some of the objections to the prior constructions, one difficulty still remaining was that of providing proper venting, the flower bunch only having access to air at the upper open end of the sleeve and otherwise being virtually totally covered. The resulting answer was to provide perforations through the sleeves to permit the circulation of air through such perforations and into and around the sleeve installed flower bunches.
In one form, the perforations may be permanently sized holes spaced throughout the sleeves and in a more advanced form, the perforations may be created by particularly arranged slits which automatically expand open during the installation of the flower bunches within these sleeves. This latter construction is illustrated in a sleeve for packaging various materials in U.S. Pat. No. 3,040,966 issued June 26, 1962 and entitled "ARTICLE PACKAGING SLEEVE".
This initially appears to solve the problem. By forming the sleeves of plastic film, they were not subject to destruction by water so as to permit the presence of the same as vitally required by the flower bunch and the additionally vitally required air was permitted to circulate through the flower bunch by the sleeve perforations. It was quickly found, however, that even though the sleeve perforations were vitally needed, the installation of the same presented a surface which was extremely subject to being snagged by the stems of the flower bunch during insertion downwardly into the flower sleeves or the drawing of the flower sleeves upwardly over the flower bunch for installation.
More specifically, whether a flower bunch is installed in a flower sleeve by insertion of the flower bunch, stem first, downwardly into the flower sleeve, or the flower sleeve is drawn upwardly over the stems and ultimately over the flowers of the flower bunch for such installation, a distinct snagging situation is presented. The stems of most flower bunches are somewhat irregular, in certain cases even very irregular depending on the type of flowers making up the flower bunch. Thus, with the walls of the flower sleeve being covered with perforations of one type or another, extreme problems of snagging are inevitable.